Sam Warburton says he has grown tired of trophy-less seasons with the Cardiff Blues and it is time they won something.

The Wales flanker – widely tipped to lead the Lions again this summer – will be part of a Blues side aiming to get past Gloucester on Saturday and make it through to the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup.

Warburton may have led the Lions to a series victory in Australia in 2013 and helped Wales to Six Nations titles in 2012 and 2013, but he has never had that winning feeling for the Blues.

Having just finished a training session with the region at the Vale of Glamorgan resort, on the next pitches along from where he trained with Wales during the Six Nations, he reveals an impatience for success.

“As a region, we haven’t won anything since we won the Challenge Cup in 2010 against Toulon, so there is a huge incentive for us to win this game and get to the semi-finals,” says Warburton.

“Every time I have re-signed for the Blues, I have said that a big thing for me to is to help them win some silverware. It’s been a long time and it’s overdue.

“I think we have a good chance this season because we have played well in this tournament and if you look at the Pro12 table then it is going to be very difficult for us to even make the top six this season.

“So, this offers an opportunity. Playing at Gloucester is going to be tough, but we have had some of our best performances in this tournament including an away win against Pau in France, which has given us a lot of belief.”

Warburton has never played at Kingsholm – a fact that says much about the way the opportunity for meaningful Anglo-Welsh rivalry has diminished as well as plenty about the priority Test rugby has taken for the first player to be signed on a dual WRU-regional contract.

The 28-year-old has made 12 appearances for the Blues so far this season, already an improvement on the eight he managed last season and four of those 12 games have come in Europe.

“It’s weird that I’ve never played at Kingsholm, so I’m really looking forward to it. The crowd there is renowned for the level of their support, they are a very physical team, so it’s going to be a huge challenge.

“I’m also looking forward to playing against Ross Moriarty after playing alongside him for Wales this season. We’ve both been talking about this match for a while and there’s been a bit of banter as I’ve roomed with him a few times.

“Ross made a huge impact for Wales this season. I would say he’s been the biggest addition to the Wales team that we have had for quite a few seasons.

“He’s strong, aggressive, skillful and he knows the game. You would have to think he is in the frame for Lions selection.”

The Lions is something Warburton cannot escape right now. Warren Gatland will name his squad in a couple of weeks’ time and the odds on the coach re-hiring his captain of four years ago seem to be dropping every day.

Having given up the burden of leadership with Wales at the start of this season, there would be a certain irony in him being given the same responsibilities for the Lions at the end of the campaign.

Sir Ian McGeechan has said the job should got to Warburton again and Brian O’Driscoll has also pointed to the same candidate. Others have suggested the obsession with captaincy is overblown and irrelevant, compared to selection and the building of a game plan to take on New Zealand in three Tests.

But the 2013 skipper is loath to talk about the prospect, for fear of being seen as cocky about his chances of even making the squad.

“Having not captained Wales this season, I suppose there would be an irony but I’m not even thinking about that.

“It would be disrespectful for me to even talk about being Lions captain because there are so many good players from England, Ireland and Scotland I have to get past first to even be selected for the squad.

“Everyone is picking their Lions teams and their Lions captain. Some people seem to have been doing it since August. But every player just needs to stay humble and do their best for their club.

“Any player wanting to make that squad knows they need a big few games between now and the announcement, and then afterwards if they are going to press their claims for making the team.

“I’m the same as everyone else. I need to put in some big club performances.”